By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
Serves 1
250 cal · 5 min
Ras el Hanout Spice Mix
Recipe GLPR46ea73dc71fbce
A fragrant North African spice blend that brings warmth and complexity to any dish. Toasting whole spices before grinding unlocks their essential oils and deepens their flavors, creating a rich, aromatic powder perfect for tagines, grain bowls, and roasted vegetables. This homemade blend stores well and delivers far superior results compared to store-bought versions.
Save recipes you love
Create a free Grocery List Plus account to save recipes, rate them, and add every ingredient to your grocery list in one tap.
Ingredients
2½ tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp cardamom seeds (from about 10 pods)
saffron threads (optional)
Directions
Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and cardamom seeds. Toast them, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until they become fragrant and darken slightly in color. This toasting step is essential—it awakens the spices' natural oils and significantly deepens their flavor.
Transfer the toasted whole spices to a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Let them cool slightly if using an electric grinder. Add the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground turmeric, and saffron threads if using.
Grind all the spices together until you achieve a fine, uniform powder. Work in short pulses if using an electric grinder to avoid overheating, or grind steadily with a pestle and mortar until fully combined.
Transfer the finished spice blend to a clean, airtight jar or container. Seal well and store in a cool, dark place. The blend will maintain its full flavor and aroma for up to six months.
Comments
Saffron forces a specialty trip—Harris Teeter carries it in the spice aisle, but at $6 to $10 per gram it's the single costliest ingredient and drives the per-serving cost to $2 or more just for the spice mix itself. The five-minute time is honest and true, but this is a component, not a finished dish; you're buying it to flavor something else later. Cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, turmeric, and cardamom are all available at every major chain in Charlotte, making the shopping straightforward once you commit to the saffron. The real value here is clarity—you know exactly what you're mixing and can skip grocery-store ras el hanout blends that charge premium prices for filler, but budget the saffron expense and treat this as a staple-building project rather than a weeknight impulse.
Sign in or create a free account to add your review.
